June 03, 2013

Potawatomi painted Titanic mural

By Vincent Schilling“We sent the Titanic Historical Society a letter asking for permission if we could use this mural, and we used this as the backdrop of our entire gala. We knew the mural was signed, and there was talk of a second person but no one knew who it was.”

Wanting to get to the bottom of the matter, Pulling decided to do some research to learn more about the second signature.

"I spent 34 years in law enforcement, and I can find people if I need to find them," said Pulling. "It is a whole lot easier today that was 30 some odd years ago. I am retired now but it didn't take me five minutes to get something on James' Facebook page and another five minutes to get a phone number."

Wahwassuck, meanwhile, had caught wind of the omission from an inaccurate April 16 story at DelawareOnline.com: "Titanic tribute honors special connection with First State."

Pulling reached Wahwassuck at his home on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation in northeastern Kansas at 3:30 PM, and their conversation quickly established that Wahwassuck was indeed the artist. An hour and a half later, Pulling was telling gala attendees the story about Perry and Wahwassuck.Comment: For more on Native murals, see Native Murals at Jazz Fest and